Dubbo will be major beneficiaries from the restructure of regional tourism organisations (RTOs), according to Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
TAA communications manager Peter Hook welcomed the formation of a Destination Network, made up of six regions including Destination Country and Outback, that would include the Orana region.
The state government announcement included $43 million in guaranteed funding over the next four years and Mr Hook said it would provide more certainty than the previous model of RTOs.
Inland NSW, which covered a large portion of regional NSW including Orana, went into administration in April after failing to secure government grants.
"The biggest problem with the existing model was the uncertainty of funding. There was no guarantee it would come and it made it pretty hard to plan campaigns," Mr Hook said.
"You could make Dubbo the function and conferencing heart of NSW but if you don't have the funding to do the campaign, then people aren't going to know about it.
"This is the first time that there is some certainty, the regional areas haven't benefited from the same certainty that Sydney has but this is an opportunity for the regional areas to get a share of business and conference travel."
It is that conference and function market that Mr Hook believes Dubbo can really capitalise on. He said it had already established itself as a popular and recognisable destination for leisure travel but that wasn't enough for hotels and motels.
"One of the great things to come out of the announcement was the dedicated regional conference promotion unit. I think people want different experiences and if they know Dubbo has the facilities and is the epicentre of animal experiences, then they will come."
Mr Hook said he expected there would be some people who were disappointed that the existed RTOs would be disbanded but with a number of them proving unviable, propping them up wasn't an option. He predicted some would be unhappy that the state government would have tight control over how funding was used.
"Everyone would like the organisations to be locally-based but if you don't have the funding, it doesn't matter. The most important part of the announcement was the four years of funding and the boards for each of the regions will be local,” he said.
"If you have two RTOs like those for destinations like the Hunter and the Blue Mountains that are aren't sustainable, then what hope did others like Inland NSW have?”